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30 Years of Bringing Parks To Life

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CPF Turns 30!

Thirty years ago, Kramer vs. Kramer author Avery Corman was concerned about the state of St. James Park, the local green space near where he had grown up in the Bronx, so he began looking for ways to improve it. Thanks to Avery, and many other dedicated New Yorkers who took action at a critical time in our city’s history, City Parks Foundation now reaches 300,000 New Yorkers every year, offering programming to encourage residents to use and care for their local parks and green spaces.

Over the years, we have grown to meet community needs, adding such notable programs as CityParks tennis — now the largest municipal tennis instruction program for kids in the country — and SummerStage — our city’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. But we have not forgotten our roots, because we know that our city’s parks are always improved when New Yorkers get involved.

Our city’s parks are the most fundamentally democratic of public spaces, available for anyone and everyone to use for recreation, for enjoyment, for relaxation, for community gathering, for environmental benefits, and for so much more. We are honored to partner with and serve New Yorkers of all ages — attending concerts together, learning yoga in our seniors fitness program, getting out on a rowboat with classmates to learn about our waterways, or volunteering to beautify a local playground — who are all focused on a singular goal: to bring these public spaces to life.